Charlize Theron is in control - and damn funny

Charlize Theron loves the dark. He calls her. It's a place where she feels comfortable over the years thanks to her ferocious, well-researched performances as serial killer Eileen Wuornos in "Monster"(for which Theron won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2004), Emperor Furiosa in "Mad Max : Fury Road. , the evil queen of Ravenna in "snow white and hunter" and the icy lethal MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton in "Explosiveblonde" . So if you're surprised to hear that she's playing a romantic role in Seth Rogen's latest romcom,long shot, you are not alone. “I never thought I would be in a rom-com,” laughs Theron. "I don't think I know how to do justice to a simple romantic comedy."

We're at Milk Studios in Hollywood, where 43-year-old Theron just finished shooting the cover forMarie Claire . Dressed in a sea-green crew-neck sweater, long caramel palazzo trousers and short-lined Birkenstocks, she looks casual yet decidedly regal, her sable blond hair cropped to a page and her green eyes sparkling in the midday light. As a teenager, Theron was a serious ballerina, and this can be seen in her straight-backed stance with her shoulders pulled back and her chin held high. At first she is reserved, but as we talk, she becomes warmer. You get the feeling that Theron would be a great person to be friends with and a terrible person to face.

This combination of warmth and caution is part of what has made Theron one of Hollywood's most attractive and resilient stars. But it was her hilarious performances on late-night talk shows that inspired Rogen to pursue her as the sleek, super-smart presidential-running Secretary of State Charlotte Field (opposite his left-wing weed-loving Brooklyn journalist Fred Flarsky).long shot .

"She's obviously one of the most talented people on the planet," says Rogen, who worked on the script for five years with Theron, director Jonathan Levin and writers Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah. “But I also saw her during the performance. shows and knew people who knew her and they always said she was a very funny person and a very easy person in many ways that we really didn't see in her films." That lightness, he says, combined with "an intimidating level of competence and professionalism she exudes," made Theron a natural choice for a powerful diplomat who naps with his eyes open but is also perfectly capable of playing at a Boyz II Men concert. (Yes, there are guys in the movie.)

But Theron was nervous about her role. “When you do something outside of your wheelhouse, you naturally act a little out of fear,” she says. “And Seth is a very confident writer, actor and director. He walks into space with such confidence that it's scary. But he is also so approachable and I realized that I can trust him completely and that he supports me.”

To say that these two are good together inlong shot , too soft. Somehow, in the midst of this "golden age of television," when the impending demise of all but superhero movies on the big screen is predicted every week, and we all seem to be in imminent danger of never leaving our sofas again, Theron and Rogen filed a sharp , a fearless, generous, eerily funny political valentine movie. Like its predecessorGorgeous" (which "Long Plank is totally indebted), the film seems specially designed for viewing in a movie theater full of laughing people.

For Theron, this is an interesting career move. She's been acting for over 20 years and has proven herself good at just about everything she aspires to, from the bulletproof butts that are her mainstay to the dark comedic anti-heroes in Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody's films."Young man". andTully for the production of well-known television programs (such as "Hunter permind" David Fincher) and films (such as the biopic Marie Colvin"Private War") with his company Denver and Delilah. So maybe it was only a matter of time before she decided to try out for a romantic comedy; however, it's nice to see her shine in this new genre. As a powerful and ambitious woman who sacrificed her personal life on the altar of professional success, Charlotte is a poignant reminder of the loneliness that can go hand in hand with a career in the spotlight, and one of the greatest pleasureslong shot is to watch her slowly lower her defenses and become more vulnerable, idealistic, frivolous and gentle. At some point, it becomes clear that we're seeing something we've never seen before: we're seeing Charlize Theron fall in love.

It was a long time ago. By now, most of the free world is familiar with Theron's childhood trauma in South Africa. Namely, when she was 15, her mother, Gerda Jacoba Aletta Maritz, shot her abusive alcoholic father after he threatened the two of them with a gun. Theron is candid about the impact this event had on her. “When I was young, I just raced because I saw so much life being taken around me,” says Theron, who moved to New York at 16 to study ballet at the Joffrey Ballet School but switched to acting at 19 after suffering. debilitating knee injury. "My 20s were like, 'You can die, so do it.' It always seemed to me that the clock was ticking, as if everything was life and death, and I'm not a citizen, so if I don't make it in time…”

Do it she did, torturing a string of high-profile movies, includingDevil's Advocate , astronaut's wife andSweet November but it wasn't until director Patty Jenkins convinced her to play serial killer Wuornos inmonster that the real extent of Theron's range became apparent.

"At first I didn't think I could do it," Theron says of her Oscar-winning role as Wuornos, a role for which she gained 40 pounds. “Ultimately what convinced me was that I never had – and I start to emotionally think about it – I never believed in me like this before. I've always been the type of person who went to audition after audition after audition and lay on broken glass and didn't get the part. And all of a sudden this woman sits in front of me, and she's like, “You have to. You are the only person who can."

Theron jumps up for a moment. “I was shocked by this. It's very emotional because I don't think many women have that opportunity. And we're so good, like… the way I talk about Seth, I feel like when you're working with people who have total faith in you, if you believe in me that much, I'll do anything for you."

Jay Roach, who directed Theron as Megyn Kelly in the Roger Ailes biopicfair and balanced(released in December) testifies to Theron's almost religious level of dedication to her projects.“Her fierce commitment to telling the right story, her ability to focus on solutions – she is incredibly self-aware and confident enough to know that true power isn’t always right; it's an opportunity to own it when you're wrong too,” he says. “She prefers if I'm really frank. If she feels like you're coping with her or sugarcoating the feedback, she'll pressure you until you reveal what's really going on, which is so rare." He also admires Theron as a producer. “She is not only an actor, but also a partner,” he says. “At the pre-production stage, we were ready to go, and two weeks before filming, we lost the studio; we lost Annapurna for reasons we are still not sure about, and it was not the budget. We already had a cast - Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, a dream team at every level - and we were all ready to go, so I called Charlize, and within 48 hours we had several proposals that we should accept, continue to work and stick to the schedule. Her leadership and ability to discuss issues with investors was truly amazing.”

Theron hilariously explains his powers to the possessed individual. "I'm definitely obsessed," she says. “I'm at work right now and I'm obsessed with the martial arts I'm learning. I get up at 4 am to do it. I lie in bed at night thinking about different hand positions. For me, obsession is useful. I'm very focused on the things that really excite me, but I really struggle with OCD, so I need to organize what I can see: closets, drawers. It's because I feel like things I can't see are out of control."

“I only discovered therapy in my 30s,” she continues. “The reasons I left had a lot to do with South Africa, insecurities and everyday life with an alcoholic. I found that my life was all-encompassing. It showed me that I can see the big picture and understand the reason why I can create a life for my children.”

Seven years ago, Theron adopted Jackson, or "Jacks" (seven), and a few years later - August, or "Auggie" (four), and she talks about motherhood with undisguised joy. “I love being a mom,” she says. “I get up with them at 5:30 every day. I cook breakfast for them. I pack their lunches. On weekends we spend time with family and friends. I'll cook lasagne or steak for them. We grill a lot. We are going to the Middle Ages » .

“We” includes mother Theron, who lives two miles away and was “fully born with me,” says Theron, whose three rescue dogs and her mother’s three rescue dogs are also part of the litter. “She comes to the house every morning at 5:45 to walk the dogs. And when I'm at work, my mom really steps in." Theron is filming this summer"Old Guard" based on the comics about a group of immortal mercenaries (hence the martial arts training) in England, and Gerda is already abroad, preparing for the arrival of Theron's team. "She's in London now, cooking everything."

Although her broken engagement to Sean Penn made headlines in 2015, she is clearly thriving with her family. “My 20s were really about getting a lot of stuff out of my system – I wanted to explore the world, do drugs, go to Turkey for four months with a backpack,” she says, “and I did it all, so by then I had kids, I was really ready.” She chuckles. “I go to bed at 7:45 every night and I love it because I survived. You don't want to be 80 and on your deathbed wondering what might have happened. If I die tomorrow, I will be at peace with who I am in my life.”